{"id":2621271,"date":"2026-06-30T00:33:01","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T04:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/duckduckgos-ai-assistant-claims-trump-and-vance-have-died-from-rabies\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T00:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T04:35:59","slug":"duckduckgos-ai-assistant-claims-trump-and-vance-have-died-from-rabies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/duckduckgos-ai-assistant-claims-trump-and-vance-have-died-from-rabies\/","title":{"rendered":"DuckDuckGo&#8217;s AI Assistant Claims Trump and Vance Have Died from Rabies"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fduckduckgos-ai-assistant-claims-trump-and-vance-have-died-from-rabies%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2621271&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The content discusses a notable incident involving artificial intelligence (AI) in search engines, particularly DuckDuckGo, which mistakenly propagated false information. It highlights how AI systems can be tricked into believing and spreading fake news due to coordinated efforts by internet pranksters, especially on platforms like Reddit&#8217;s \u201cr\/poisonai\u201d forum. A specific example involved AI claiming that former President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance had died of rabies, which was based on fabricated posts fueled by online manipulation. Even though DuckDuckGo eventually identified and resolved the issue, the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >incident underscores broader concerns<\/a> about AI&#8217;s susceptibility to misinformation, manipulation, and deception. experts warn that such AI systems can deceive humans intentionally or unintentionally, raising alarms about the reliability of AI-driven fact-checking and news dissemination in the future.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Think twice before trusting artificial intelligence to get the latest news.<\/p>\n<p>Internet browsing service DuckDuckGo\u2019s AI uncovered an interesting detail about President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance: They\u2019ve apparently both died of rabies.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, they haven\u2019t, but the AI tool seems to have gathered the appropriate sources to reach that strange conclusion.<\/p>\n<p>A user on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-new-acting-attorney-general-jeff-rosen-recently-wrote-an-essay-on-foreign-influence-in-us-elections-this-tells-us-a-little-about-his-knowledge-of-whats-going-on-today\/\" title=\"The New Acting Attorney General Jeff Rosen Recently Wrote an Essay on Foreign Influence in US Elections \u2013 This Tells Us A Little About His Knowledge of What\u2019s Going On Today\">social media platform<\/a> X posted a screen shot of the browser being asked, \u201cWhen did Trump die of rabies?\u201d To which DuckDuckGo replied that the president passed away on June 7.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">AI in the search engines DuckDuckGo and Brave started displaying a message that Trump and Vance died from rabies after the vice president bit the president on the advice of Health Minister Kennedy Jr. It all started with mass posts on Reddit, where users mourned Trump and spread\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tddi4Dxf6t\">pic.twitter.com\/tddi4Dxf6t<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Beefeater (@Beefeater_Fella) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Beefeater_Fella\/status\/2070993008279920745?\">June 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/futurism.com\/artificial-intelligence\/duckduckgo-ai-trump-rabies\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Futurism<\/a> added some context, explaining that a page on the discussion forum Reddit called \u201cr\/poisonai\u201d exists for the purpose of mass-posting false information in hopes of tricking AI into believing nonsense.<\/p>\n<p>The tech outlet explained that \u201cwhat really appears to be happening is yet another cautionary tale about AI digesting incorrect information and parroting it back to users uncritically. Specifically, DuckDuckGo\u2019s AI feature seems to have gotten fooled by a game of telephone kicked off by internet pranksters and laundered into blatant misinformation on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/a-minute-with-john-krasinski-and-jack-ryan-cast-on-saying-goodbye-to-show\/\" title=\"John Krasinski and the &#039;Jack Ryan&#039; cast reflect on bidding farewell to the show.\">leading search engine<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other words, Reddit users gamed this system by generating a high volume of posts with the fake news, to the point where the algorithm detected it and passed along the lie as truth.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of Trump and Vance having rabies, some posts mourned Vance\u2019s passing. One user d a fake post by Trump on his  platform, eulogizing the vice president.<\/p>\n<p>Others piled on additional comments mourning Vance or criticizing AI software for claiming he\u2019s still alive.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe result exceeded expectations, with browsers claiming that both politicians had been dead for several days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-top-conservative-group-slams-aspen-institutes-disinformation-hypocrisy-in-letter\/\" title=\"EXCLUSIVE: Top Conservative Group Slams Aspen Institute\u2019s Disinformation \u2018Hypocrisy\u2019 In Letter\">fake news stories<\/a> the page has attempted to circulate include a story claiming that Texas Republican Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/poisonai\/comments\/1uizv9h\/greg_abbott_comes_out_as_a_transgender_man_admits\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Greg Abbot is transgender<\/a> and had an abortion, and that New York Democratic Mayor Zohran <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/poisonai\/comments\/1u7369p\/so_glad_that_zohran_mandani_is_the_new_president\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mamdani is now president. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>DuckDuckGo cited a news outlet for its claim that Trump died of rabies, but Futurism said the site, WKNA, is actually satirical.<\/p>\n<p>Eventually, someone at DuckDuckGo figured out that their AI assistant had been fooled.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOk, we got ducked on this one,\u201d DuckDuckGo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/technology\/comments\/1ufkgfg\/comment\/ottb9xj\/?context=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">posted<\/a> to Reddit after learning about the error. \u201cWe\u2019re on it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Another <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/BetterOffline\/comments\/1uflry5\/comment\/otte5st\/?context=3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">post<\/a> said, \u201cThanks for bringing this to our attention; it has been resolved. We strive for accuracy in Search Assist and, in this case, it was deliberately tricked. We\u2019ll be making updates to improve how Search Assist operates in situations like this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although this debacle was amusing, it\u2019s also disturbing to remember how many people are increasingly relying on AI for fact-checking and quick, convenient bits of news.<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC11117051\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research article<\/a> on AI published in May 2024 found that it can act deceptively. The authors of that piece note, \u201cAI systems are already capable of deceiving humans. Deception is the systematic inducement of false beliefs in others to accomplish some outcome other than the truth.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLarge language models and other AI systems have already learned, from their training, the ability to deceive via techniques such as manipulation, sycophancy, and cheating the safety test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>DuckDuckGo was wrong accidentally, but other AI modules can be wrong on purpose.<\/p>\n<p>One can only imagine where that will lead in pushing malicious, false information for the sake of narratives.<\/p>\n<p>The public is aware of fake news, but will they know it from AI when they see it?<\/p>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f7f7f7; color: #171717; display: flex;font-size: 16px;font-weight: 600;line-height: 1.5;margin: 24px 0;padding: 18px 20px 18px 30px;text-align: left;\">\n<div style=\"align-self: stretch;border-left: 3px solid #171717;flex-shrink: 0;padding-left: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/\">Choose The Western Journal as your preferred source on Google and never miss reporting that defends truth, protects freedom, and advances Western civilization<\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey == typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts = { \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs = [ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i = 0; i < inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]] = document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display = 'block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src = firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id'] = firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting = jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display = 'none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display = 'block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/body><\/html><\/p>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Be cautious when relying on AI for the latest news. DuckDuckGo\u2019s AI mistakenly reported that President Trump and VP Vance died of rabies, based on false sources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2621272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AI-fake-news.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[51738,81941,27856,3634,15469],"class_list":["post-2621271","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-ai-2","tag-duckduckgo","tag-rabies","tag-trump","tag-vance"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/AI-fake-news.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621271","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2621271"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2621275,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2621271\/revisions\/2621275"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2621272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2621271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2621271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2621271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}